Ruth's fight to raise funds and awareness of type 1 diabetes in memory of the niece she loved and lost

“It comes from the film Lilo and Stitch, which Ish loved, and in that story family is about making sure no-one is ever forgotten about or left behind,” explains Ish’s aunt Ruth.

“We want to make sure Ish is never forgotten.”

The 23-year-old student nurse died in July, following complications arising from type 1 diabetes.

Now Ruth and her daughter Alice, 17, who also has the condition, are spearheading a fundraising drive to raise money towards a cure. Their inaugural events, a ladies’ lunch at celebrity chef Jak O’Donnell’s Jordanhill restaurant The Sisters and a panto bucket collection, raised more than £2700 and they are now planning a huge music event in Largs on February 19.

All money raised is being donated to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), the leading charity committed to eradicating type 1 diabetes by funding world-class research and giving support and a voice to people with type 1 and their families.

Ruth, who is a primary school teacher from Skelmorlie, says: “Long-term, we hope our contributions will help fund a cure for type 1 diabetes, and in the short term, we simply want to raise awareness of this condition and how incredibly hard it is for young people to manage, particularly during their teenage years.

“Type 1 often gets lumped in with type 2 – Alice says when she tells people she has it, they ask, oh, did you just eat too much sugar? – so there is a real misunderstanding out there.”

She adds: “And I don’t think people realise quite how serious it can be.”

Ish – her Sunday name was Iseabal, the Gaelic spelling of Ishbel but, laughs Ruth, ‘no-one could ever spell it, so we just called her Ish’ – was diagnosed with type 1 when she was 10 years old.

“She always struggled to cope with it,” explains Ruth. “Ish lost her mum to cancer when she was quite young, so she had a lot to deal with.

“But she was such a caring person, and did a lot to help others with the condition. She would always offer advice and support in online forums and chatted to lots of young people, helping them feel better even when she felt rubbish herself.

“And she did so much for Alice. The two girls have always been like sisters and Ish’s death has affected Alice very badly. She has been a driving force in all the fundraising because she wants to do something for Ish.”

Ish was admitted to hospital in the summer with gastroparesis, a side-effect of type 1 where the nerves in the stomach are damaged, leading to sickness and unpredictable blood sugar levels – extremely dangerous for those with diabetes.

Sadly, the damage was severe and further complications led to Ish’s death on July 29.

“Ish was feisty and fun-loving and everyone who met her couldn’t help loving her,” says Ruth. “She was training to be a nurse, and two days before she died she told me she had decided she wanted to specialise in high dependency, because she had spent time in the ICU.

“To lose her so soon is hard to bear.”

Ruth is keen to highlight the difficulties faced by young people, particularly teenagers, diagnosed with type 1.

“The pressures on today’s teenagers are huge anyway – image, social media, exams – so to add type 1 into the mix makes life incredibly difficult for these young people, who just want to go out, have fun and live their lives,” she explains.

“Their insulin injections or pump are their life support machines – they can’t ever take a day off.

“That’s hard for them and sometimes, the emotional support just isn’t there for them.

“I hope we can raise awareness so that more places, like schools for example, understand and support these young people. And let’s separate type 1 and type 2. They are not the same.”

Ruth and Alice have called their appeal Ohana’s wIsh and are in the process of setting up a Facebook page to reach more people.

“We don’t want Ish’s death to have been for nothing,” says Ruth, simply.

“Setting up Ohana’s wIsh is exactly the kind of thing Ish would do – all we want to do is to prevent this happening to another teenager, another family. It’s such a waste of a young life.”

To donate to Ohana’s wIsh, visit Ruth’s JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/account/your-pages/Ohanas-wIsh

FACTBOX

28,500 people in Scotland live with type 1 diabetes and the incidence is increasing by about four per cent each year, particularly in children under five.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic life-long condition which often strikes in childhood. The exact cause of the condition is unknown but it is not linked to lifestyle or diet.

Scotland has one of the highest incidences of type 1 diabetes in the world

JDRF has committed £3.9m to research projects in Scotland, one in Glasgow and two in Dundee.

Visit jdrf.org.uk for more information